


Take What You Want

by Mercurians



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Also like 4 pages of Jaehee and Yoosung bonding, Based on the Christmas route, Cuddles, Fluff, Hardcore wish fulfillment, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 09:52:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8974897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercurians/pseuds/Mercurians
Summary: An alternate ending to the Christmas route, where Seven and Yoosung get to cuddle just like they deserve. Also, Jaehee and Yoosung are cute friends.





	

“As soon as I thought to say thanks, I thought of you first. That’s why I called, haha....”

MC returned Yoosung’s laugh with a pleased hum. “Really? That’s sweet of you.”

“N-not at all! When you think about it, the reason we can have this fundraiser at all is because you joined the RFA.”

Yoosung glanced around the fundraiser, trying to focus on their conversation while staying aware of the crowd around him. It had thinned out somewhat, leaving him room for a break while his thoughts were still in order. He needed to give thanks—not just to her, but to everyone in the RFA. These past two days had been stressful, exhausting... but in a welcome way, he realized. He considered it thoughtfully while continuing the conversation.

It felt good to experience this kind of pressure again. The pressure of being needed, of being the only person suitable for a task, while someone else relies on you. It was a pressure not many had given him since Rika, but as he guided guests of their fundraiser around the room, called in orders, answered questions, troubleshooted problems, Yoosung began to understand the worth of this experience. He felt strong. Capable. For the first time in years, perhaps.

“Hey, Yoosung?”

His attention was drawn back to the phone against his ear. “Yes?”

“I have to get going now, but you should keep this up!” He could hear her smiling in her voice. “I think a lot of people need your thanks right now. Some way more than I do.”

“Oh.” Yoosung glanced across the room at Jaehee, who was pointing someone toward the donation booth. He’d been thanking _her_ endlessly for the past 24 hours. “Anyone in particular?” he asked.

“I think you know,” she said. “Bye Yoosung!”

The call dropped before he could ask for clarification. Yoosung stared at the phone in his hand for a moment, checked the thickness of the crowd, and then found himself smiling. Regardless of what MC meant, he’d already planned his second call.

After the third ring, he picked up. “Agent Seven-Zero-Seven, picking up a distress signal from Earth! What’s the emergency?”

Yoosung grinned involuntarily. “Can’t you ever answer the phone normally?”

“Hello! Dígame! Moshi moshi! Which of seventeen languages would you prefer I be normal in?”

Yoosung scoffed. “Showoff. I called to have a serious conversation with you, Seven.”

His ridiculous, energetic tone persisted. “Ahh, a serious conversation? With _me_? Was everyone else too busy? Or, wait, is it _about_ everyone else? Are they in danger?!”

“What? Seven, what kind of danger would-”

“So _that’s_ why you called! You need your cunning hacker of a best friend on the case—now I get it. So tell me. Is it kidnappers? Aliens? A seamonster? What are we up against?”

“That’s.... No, I’m-” Yoosung sighed. Seven was in rare form today, far more abrasive than usual, and his jokes twice as dumb. Yoosung took a breath and pushed through. “I called to thank you, Seven.”

There was a short pause. “Thank me?”

“The holidays are... about expressing care for your loved ones, right? Well, I wanted to thank you, as a member of the RFA. It’s, um, thanks to all of your hard work that we’re able to have this fundraiser, and that means a lot to me, so....“

Seven’s tone soured. “Did MC tell you to call?”

“Huh? No.” Yoosung shrugged to himself. “Well, maybe she suggested it. But I was planning to call you next anyway.”

“So you called her first....” He mumbled it outloud, like an observation not meant to be vocalized.

“I did. Why does that matter?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it doesn’t.” Seven was trying hard to sound like his energetic self, but Yoosung could hear him struggling. “Thanks for the support, Cutie Yoosung. We’ll work hard again next year, too, and make more great things happen through the RFA. I’ll talk to you-”

“Seven?” Yoosung cut in, a little desperate. “Don’t hang up yet, please.”

He heard a small sigh on the other line. “What’s up?”

“Are you okay? I know you don’t like Christmas, but you’re acting really weird.”

“Everything’s fine.” His tone was odd and hollow. “I have lots of work to keep me busy. Anyway, enjoy your time at the fundraiser with MC tonight.”

“With....” Yoosung’s voice broke off. “You can come, too, Seven. You should come! I would love to see you here. W-we all would.”

Seven laughed softly. “You’re nice, Yoosung.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “But I like it better when you ignore me.”

“Seven....”

“Ahh, I’m getting a call from work. Thanks for calling, now move to the next on your list! I’ll talk to you after Christmas.” He hung up.

Yoosung held the phone in his hand. _I like it better when you ignore me?_ What kind of a weird accusation....

“Yoosung!” Looking up at the sound of his name, Yoosung realized abruptly how little he’d been paying attention. The crowd had swelled again, and Jaehee was waving for him from across the room, overwhelmed with questions and requests. Burying the phone in his pocket, Yoosung ran to her, trying to push Seven’s words to the back of his mind.

  


“Thank you for your donation.” He was putting on a smile, but his voice felt flat in his throat. As the donor left, granting him a moment of partial solitude, Yoosung slid the phone out of his pocket, enough to flip it open and see the time, 8:45 PM, and no new messages. He wasn’t expecting anything, hadn’t been expecting anything all night. But the urge to check persisted.

“I’m glad that it seems to be calming down.” Jaehee’s voice came from over his shoulder. “But I’m worried about getting everyone cleared out at nine. I’d like to get home quickly, if possible.”

“Mm.” Yoosung bit the inside of his lip, watching guests circulate through the event. He felt a twinge of guilt for changing the subject from work, but.... “Jaehee? Can I get advice about something? Something personal.”

“Oh. Well.” She paused. “If it’s not about work, I’m not sure I can be of much help. But of course I’m willing to try.”

Yoosung turned to her and smiled. “Thanks.” He took a breath, trying to arrange his thoughts. “Jaehee do you.... Do you think I’m super oblivious?”

She laughed abruptly, then covered her mouth with her hand.

“Jaehee!”

“I’m sorry! That was a mistake!”

“So you _do_ think I’m oblivious.” Pouting, he took a glance at his phone again. Still no messages. He looked back up in time to see Jaehee smile weakly at him.

“It’s not that. I think that... you have many strengths. Your compassion, for one thing.”

“But?”

Adjusting her glasses, Jaehee took on a serious expression. “For example. This morning you spent three minutes looking for your phone, but it was in your hand.”

He frowned. “That happens to everyone, Jaehee.”

“Yes, well. Remember when I sent you backstage for green lights, and you came back with red ones?”

“I... got distracted. Do you know how little sleep I got last night?”

“Also, the girl at the reception desk was flirting with you all morning, and I don’t think you noticed.”

“That’s....” Yoosung fell silent, his eyes turning wide. “Wait, really? Do you think so?”

“So I was right. You _didn’t_ notice.” Jaehee sighed.

Burying his face in his hands, Yoosung let out a soft groan. “I think I’m really, really bad at this, Jaehee.”

She shuffled her feet slightly, uncertain of how to console him. When a group of guests approached, looking in need of help, she stepped forward gratefully. “Welcome! Are you here to make a last minute donation?”

Yoosung checked his phone one last time. 8:49. With only eleven minutes left until the end of the fundraiser, Yoosung headed back to work. For those eleven minutes, he’d keep his mind busy by being as useful as possible.

 

 

 

 

The event cleanup was nearly as chaotic as the fundraiser itself. With the guests gone, a number of C&R employees could finally enter, taking instructions to disassemble the stage, put away lights, and take down decorations. Yoosung, too, was hard at work, though exhausted and checked out. Sitting on the ground, he wrapped an extension cord in a spiral around his forearm, pulling the end closer with each loop. After giving instruction to a group of workers, Jaehee sat at his side, quietly feeding him the extension cord.

“Ah- Jaehee, it’s cold on the ground.” Yoosung frowned as he continued looping the cord. “You don’t have to help me.”

“I wanted to,” she insisted. “And... I also wanted to check in. Are you doing all right?”

“I’m okay.” Yoosung’s hair fell in his face as he ducked his head, and he moved it away with a firm shake. “Thanks for checking. How about you?”

“Tired,” she admitted. “Luckily, I’ve learned to keep my head straight when I’m exhausted like this.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mm-hm.” She closed her eyes, continuing to feed him the extension cord. “I start fantasizing about all of the spiteful things I could say toward Mr. Han.” She smiled. “But I’ve never once broken character.”

Yoosung laughed, but his laughter quickly deescalated into a soft groan. “I can’t believe Jumin never showed up.”

“I can,” Jaehee said. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

“Hah. I won’t.”

Jaehee noted the weak smile on his face. “Yoosung. Can I ask what was bothering you earlier? When you asked about, um, being oblivious?”

“Oh. It’s nothing, really, I just....” Yoosung’s eyebrows furrowed as he considered it. “I want to be a good friend.”

“Of course.”

His hands fumbled with the extension cord as he worked. “I’d give so much to make my friends happy, you know? But I’m starting to realize, maybe I don’t even know what some of my friends need. Or want. Or....” He swallowed hard. “Maybe I do know, and I’ve been ignoring it.”

“I see....” Jaehee noticed that Yoosung had stopped wrapping the extension cord, left it sitting in his arms, frozen mid-gesture as he thought deeply. She decided not to mention it.

“Do you have any advice for me, Jaehee?” He gave her a small smile that looked more desperate than he’d intended. “Maybe a moral from a Zen play or something?”

She balked at him. “ _A Zen play_? Is that what you think of me?”

Yoosung laughed. “It was just a suggestion.”

“Hmph.” Jaehee straightened up, responding forcefully. “How about advice from twenty-six years of life experience?”

“Okay, okay! Sorry. I’d love to hear whatever advice you have.”

She took a breath to straighten her thoughts, then answered. “I suppose my answer would be this. It’s... it’s impossible to always be a perfect friend, to always know what the other person needs or wants. Being oblivious, ultimately, isn’t any sort of fatal problem.” Jaehee folded her hands in her lap, still holding the extension cord between her fingers. “For those friends whose wishes seem elusive, it only requires more persistence. Sometimes.... Well, some of us can be a bit stubborn in accepting help, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want it.”

Yoosung tilted his head. “Do you think that you’re like that, Jaehee?”

She smiled softly. “Perhaps, at times.”

“I guess I always sort of thought you were too strong to want help.” Yoosung started wrapping the extension cord again, suddenly aware that he’d stopped. “But that’s my obliviousness talking again. I hope that I can help you, too, Jaehee.”

“Thank you, Yoosung.” She stared at her hands as they worked.

“Right now, though....” Yoosung sighed. “I think there’s someone who needs me more than anyone else.”

“Hmm.” Jaehee caught sight of a figure in her peripheral vision and sat up. “Oh, it’s Mr. Han.”

Yoosung looked up to see Jumin on the other end of the venue, walking toward them quickly. Leaning in toward Yoosung, Jaehee dropped her voice to a whisper. “This could be your chance.”

“Huh?”

“You said that someone else needs you, correct? Well, Mr. Han is here to take over for you.” She raised her eyebrows, a hint of playfulness shining through her serious expression. “That is, if you’re willing to confront him about your decision to leave.”

Catching onto her idea, Yoosung smiled with furrowed eyebrows. “You’re really okay with me leaving you here with him?”

Her voice came out somewhat giddy. “If you say the things I’m not allowed to, you can consider it your Christmas present to me.”

Trying to hold back his grin, Yoosung nodded and rose to his feet, still holding the extension cord in his hands. Taking long strides, he approached Jumin confidently.

“Yoosung, hello. I’m-”

“Save it.” Yoosung lifted the wrapped extension cord and placed it in Jumin’s arms, still gripping the loops tightly. He kept direct eye contact as they spoke, noting the subtly surprised expression on Jumin’s face. “You’re late. Your assistant and I worked all day, for the past two days, to put on this fundraiser with your company’s name attached. You weren’t here to help, and now that it’s over, you’ve suddenly shown up.” He let go of the extension cord and balled his fists. “You’re not the only one with problems and other things to do. I’m leaving, and you’re going to take over for me, and... and if you’re a good boss and a good friend, you’ll send Jaehee home too.” Yoosung brushed past Jumin’s shoulder, then turned slightly for a farewell. “So, bye. Uh. Merry Christmas.” Yoosung jogged toward the exit before he could get a response.

 

 

 

Yoosung circled again around the convenience store, his body full of energy, legs carrying him in loops as his eyes tried to keep up, scanning the shelves for appropriate things to bring. He’d gotten all of the obvious choices. Candy, soda, chips, even a tray of apple slices from the fridge section, in case Seven actually felt like putting something nutritious into his body.

He was almost ready to pay, but there had to be something else. Some final touch to make this a little bit special. A small display by the register caught his eye. Approaching with one hand extended to touch the red material, he wondered whether he could swallow the embarrassment. Maybe for Christmas.

 

 

 

When Yoosung Kim showed up on his doorstep at 10 PM wearing a Santa hat and carrying a bag of groceries, Seven briefly considered closing the door, going back inside, and hiding in bed until morning. Instead, he stepped out of the doorway. “Come on in.”

“Merry Christmas!” Yoosung tried to ignore his nerves as he walked inside. “I know you thought you’d be spending Christmas alone, but I finished up early at the fundraiser, so it looks like you can have a couple of hours to spend with me!”

“You’re staying?” Seven closed the door, but his hand lingered on the knob. He looked Yoosung up and down, starting to internalize his presence.

“Yeah, if it’s all....” Yoosung cut himself off, then smiled. “Yup. I’m staying for the rest of the holiday, and you’re not getting rid of me.”

He paid close attention to the look on Seven’s face. If this was his time to stop being oblivious to Seven’s feelings, he picked the perfect opportunity. Seven’s face was flushed, his eyes a little sad, even worried. Yoosung knew he should feel bad for his friend, but in the moment, there was something exciting about seeing such a rare earnest expression on Seven’s face.

“I... I have work to do,” Seven said. “I don’t have time to-”

“Here, check out what I brought,” Yoosung said, ignoring his weak protests to hand him the bag of groceries. “Lots of your favorites.”

Seven reached in the bag and pulled out a bottle of soda. “Bepsi?” He smiled slightly. “This isn’t very on-brand for me, Yoosung.”

“Oh, no, that one’s for me. Here, look.” Yoosung stepped closer to reach into the bag, retrieving a bottle of Ph.D Pepper and holding it up beside his face. “See? For you.”

“Ah.” Seven exchanged bottles with Yoosung. As he stared at the Ph.D Pepper logo in his hand, Yoosung sat down on Seven’s couch, opening his own bottle.

“There’s way more snacks in there, too.”

“Uh huh,” Seven voiced absentmindedly. He looked up, his eyebrows knit together. “Can’t believe you just showed up here.”

Yoosung smiled proudly. “Did I make the super cool hacker 707 all flustered?”

Seven lowered his eyebrows, grinning coyly. “You think I’m super cool, huh?”

“I....” Yoosung shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

Turning his face away abruptly, Seven stared at the wall opposite Yoosung. “Sucking up to me won’t get you anywhere, you know.”

Yoosung laughed. “I know that, Seven. I just want you to have a nice Christmas.”

Seven glanced back over his shoulder at Yoosung, who was sitting up with his feet on the couch, shoes kicked onto the floor, Santa hat tilted slightly on his head. Yoosung patted the couch cushion beside him. “Come on already. Bring the snacks over.” Seven felt his stomach churn as his legs carried him across the room. He took a seat beside Yoosung.

Yoosung retrieved a bag of chocolate Christmas trees from the grocery bag. “All the Christmas candy was on sale, since it’s almost the 26th anyway. We got lucky.”

“Huh.”

“Do you want to put on a movie or anything? Or we could just hang out.” Yoosung ripped open the bag of candy, spilling tinfoiled Christmas trees into his lap. “Oh, god. Here.” He placed one in Seven’s hand and worked on putting the rest back in the bag.

Seven examined the candy in his hands, flipping it over between his fingertips. “You shouldn’t have come here. I really do have work to do.”

“I had a really good conversation with Jaehee tonight.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

Yoosung looked up, his hands full of chocolate candies, and made direct eye contact with Seven. “I’m listening. I promise.” He continued putting them in the bag. “Just listen to this first. I had a conversation with Jaehee, and I think I understand now. I know it’s hard for you to open up about certain things, and I think sometimes I don’t pay enough attention to you. When I ask questions, you always turn things into a joke.” He frowned. “I don’t like that.”

Seven said nothing.

“But it’s okay. Because I care about you more than that, so I’ll be that much more persistent. You don’t have to tell me why you hate Christmas, or why you turn everything into a joke, or why you always look sad when I talk about the future.” He glanced up, and noticing the look of surprise on Seven’s face, he smiled. “Yeah, I’ve noticed. I’m not _that_ oblivious.” Having returned all of the candies to their plastic bag, Yoosung placed it in the small space between his and Seven’s thighs. “You can tell me all that when you’re ready. All I want is to know what you want. From me. I want to know how I can make you happier.”

Seven was biting down hard on the inside of his lip, strapped for a response.

Yoosung reached for Seven’s coffee table and took the TV remote. “Movie or talk?”

Looking back and forth between Yoosung and the remote, Seven turned his head slightly, questioningly.

“I’m giving you the chance to tell me what you want. This is easy mode, Seven. Movie or talk?”

“Movie.”

“Great. My pick, okay?”

  
  


Neither of them was really paying attention. Yoosung had picked something nearly at random, a streaming comedy movie that showed up at the top of his Recommended list. Sitting in the dark, a pile of snacks spread across their laps, Yoosung was focused more on his proximity to Seven than the characters moving across the screen. He focused on the inches of space between them, short enough that he could feel Seven’s body heat in the air. But most importantly, he focused on how easy it would be to turn his head and catch sight of Seven’s expression. The emotions conveyed on his face. How was he feeling? So far, Yoosung hadn’t worked up the courage to check.

Over a half an hour into the movie, he took the leap. Yoosung turned around and found that Seven was looking back at him, no longer red-faced, no longer annoyed. His face didn’t betray any clear emotion. It just looked blank.

Without looking up, Yoosung took the remote and lowered the volume on the TV to a low hum. “Tell me what you want, Seven.”

Seven’s mouth stretched into a weak half-smile. “This again?”

Relieved at this response, Yoosung returned his smile in full force. “Tell me.”

Seven closed his eyes. “Nine hours of sleep and a new car.”

“More realistic.”

“Rocketship. Big red rocketship.”

Yoosung laughed. “How about things a 20-year-old college student can give you?”

Seven opened his eyes again, a faint smile on his lips. He stared at Yoosung, and as he did so, the smile faded. He shook his head. “There’s nothing.”

“Please?”

“I mean it. You do enough by being my friend.”

Yoosung reached over, gently grasping the sleeve of Seven’s jacket in his fingertips. “Is that really true, Seven?” He shook his head. “Because I can’t tell anymore.”

After a moment of stunned silence, Seven laughed. “Oh, so you’re offering to be more than friends?”

Watching Yoosung’s face, Seven waited many long seconds for the blush, the frown, the stammered, embarrassed response that never came. He sat still as his heartbeat quickened and time slowed down while Yoosung bowed his head, looking at Seven through dark eyelashes. “Tell me what you want.”

Seven inhaled slowly, then spoke, his voice more breath than sound. “You don’t want the things I want.”

Yoosung matched his volume. “I don’t know if that’s true.”

Letting out a small, bitter laugh, Seven shook his head. “No, you’ve made it pretty clear by now.”

Tightening his grip on Seven’s sleeve, Yoosung leaned in. “How can I know if it’s what I want, when you’re always turning it into a joke?”

The weight of the question felt heavy on his chest. Seven sat back on the couch, head swimming, staring at moving figures on the TV screen.

They stayed quiet for a long time, Seven watching their near-silent movie, Yoosung watching the reflection of it in Seven’s glasses, the light obscuring his eyes. He caught every one of Seven’s movements: the gentle rise and fall of his chest, the occasional bobbing of his adam’s apple. It became clear, fairly quickly, that Seven wasn’t going to budge. If Yoosung was going to figure this out, he needed to do it himself.

Yoosung moved the bottle of soda and bag of candy occupying the space between them, then scooted in, closing the space between their thighs. Seven didn’t budge as Yoosung wrapped his arms softly around his waist, pressing his head into Seven’s shoulder. It was an awkward, stiff embrace, their bodies hardly meshing as Seven sat immobile, back straight against the couch. But it was warm.

After a long pause, Seven finally spoke. “Well?”

“S’nice,” Yoosung admitted.

Sighing softly, Seven finally relaxed his posture a bit. He moved one hand up and down Yoosung’s back, softly brushing knuckles along his spine. Glancing at the clock on his wall, he could see that there was only an hour left on Christmas Day. A small window before the holiday ended. Somehow, that made it feel alright.

As Seven relaxed, Yoosung began to feel more comfortable in the space against his chest. “I like this, Seven.”

“Yeah." He nodded slightly. "Me too.”

Yoosung swallowed hard. “I think I like _you_ , Seven.”

Instead of a verbal response, Yoosung felt Seven’s arms wrap around his waist, lifting him gently and dropping him on Seven’s lap, legs straddling his hips. Now, as he blocked the space between Seven and the TV, Yoosung could finally see past Seven’s glasses to realize that his eyes were brimming with tears. Slowly creeping his hands up Seven’s chest, Yoosung took the front of the black and yellow jacket firmly in his fists.

Yoosung leaned in. “Take what you want,” he whispered.

Seven moved his hands from Yoosungs waist up to his shoulders, then up once again to his head below the ears. It took only a gentle tug to get Yoosung leaning into him, bringing their faces only inches apart. There they sat still, holding eye contact for what felt like at least a minute.

“Take it,” Yoosung repeated.

Seven lifted his hands, pulled the Santa hat off of Yoosung’s head, and placed it on his own.

The expression on Yoosung’s face was completely worth it, Seven decided. Yoosung’s jaw hung slack, his eyes widened, but then he burst into a fit of laughter, and Seven pulled him in at the waist to laugh against his chest.

As their giggles quieted, Yoosung pulled back and lifted Seven’s chin, leaning in to meet his lips. Their teeth clacked together, but they smiled into the kiss as they readjusted, finding the right space and rhythm quickly. It was an awkward and unfamiliar process for Yoosung, but his body flooded with warmth at the closeness alone. With his eyes closed in the dark, he could fixate on Seven’s soft lips and the arms wrapped firmly around his waist, wondered how he ever could’ve questioned this, how he ever could’ve ignored the desire for this.

When they pulled away, Seven felt like a different person. Though difficult to see in the dark, he absorbed the sight of Yoosung’s calm, smiling face, an expression of pure bliss somehow aimed at him. The feeling in his chest was overwhelming. He wondered when the shock would pass and what sort of anxiety it would leave behind. For now, he pressed a hand to Yoosung’s cheek, praying that their eye contact would last so much longer. In this moment, he felt so comfortable.

“I liked that,” Yoosung said, his voice surprisingly calm.

“Me too.” Suddenly, Seven frowned. “God, you must be tired, though. Do you need sleep? You’re welcome to stay, but-”

Yoosung shook his head before Seven could finish. “I’m staying. I’m actually not tired at all, and....” He smiled. “Y’know. I want to talk to you more, and stuff.”

Seven felt instant relief. “I know the ‘and stuff’ is probably what I’m supposed to focus on there, but talking more sounds great.”

“Really?” Yoosung’s face lit up.

“Yeah.” Seven reached up, running a hand through Yoosung’s hair. “If you’re up for it, of course. There’s just... so much that I want to tell you.”

“Of course,” Yoosung whispered. “Please. Tell me everything." He traced a line along Seven's jaw with his thumb. "Let me carry your burdens."

Seven closed his eyes, struggling to contain his feelings. "How could I deserve you...."

"You say that, but you deserve so much more." Yoosung smiled. "Besides. Everyone should get a gift on Christmas."


End file.
